Well, I love Mel Tillis like a brother. His singing, his songwriting, his humor and just the fact that he's real and down to earth. One day we were sitting talking and he told me this story that I want to share with you.
MEL TILLIS AND THE HALF A MILLION DOLLAR BOOTS
by Stan Hitchcock
 Mel Tillis says he had never written a song when he made his first trip to Nashville in 1957. He came to Music City to be a singing star.....and they told him, "they didn’t need no stutterin’ singers, that if he cut a record it would have to be as big around as a truck tire." "Well", he says, "I took that insult and asked them what did they need and they said songs, copyrights, so I said ok and went back to Florida and tried to write one." Mel wrote a song and he and his manager, at the time, A. R. "Buck" Honest John Petty, went over to Tampa to see Ray Price who was doing a concert there. Mel got back stage and sung the song to Ray and he kinda liked it, so Mel let him take a copy of it back to Nashville to maybe record it. The next weekend Ray was singing it backstage at the Opry and Webb Pierce walked by and heard it and said, "What is that song, I kinda like it." Ray said it was one some kid that couldn’t talk gave him down in Florida. Pierce said, "Let me have it Ray, you don’t need it....you’ve had the number one song for the past year (Crazy Arms)." Ray gave the song to Webb, except Mel hadn’t give Ray the whole song, just a verse and chorus. Webb took the song and had a staff writer at his Publishing Company, Wayne Walker, write another verse and went into Columbia Studios and recorded it.
Weeks later, Mel and his Mother were at home in Florida listening to WSM Radio out of Nashville and the Eddie Hill Show when Webb Pierce’s new hit record came on....."I Ain’t Never, No Darlin’, Seen Nobody Like You....Never, have I Ever Seen Nobody Like You....." Mel jumped up and said, "That’s my song Mama! At least I think It’s my song....I never heard that other verse but I know the first verse and the melody’s mine....WE’RE GONNA BE RICH MAMA...WE’RE GONNA BE RICH!!!" A week later he moved to Nashville to write other songs like "Burning Memories" and "Detroit City" and the masterpiece "Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town". Mel is one of the genuine good guys, and his success is well deserved.
Mel ended up buying the Publishing company that Webb Pierce, Carl Smith and Jim Denny started. He wrote for them for years and finally made enough money to buy the company. In the early years when he was struggling he had to give away parts of his songs to Webb Pierce when he recorded them. One time Mel was at the Publishing company on Music Row and had just finished writing a song when Webb Pierce came in. Webb had on a pair of boots that were the prettiest things that Mel had ever seen.....they had stars on them....lightning bolts....man, they were pretty and Mel just had to have them. He told Webb he had just finished a song and Webb said to go ahead an sing it for him. When Mel got through Webb said, "I kinda like that Lad, I kinda like that". Mel said well he’d give Webb half of it for those boots....Webb said, "That’s a deal, I’ll bring them in tomorrow." So Mel ended up with Webb’s pretty boots and Webb made a half a million dollars on the song, "Oh Lord I’m Tired, Tired Of Living This Old Way."
Your friend, Stan!
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